The Way of the Sword
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Somewhere in the bamboo groves, Amigasa...
They were in a stump.
It had started to rain.
And, because Katana was such a caring ally, she told Zoro to wait it out in a nearby cave, stating how they shouldn't try to get back to camp amidst the downpour and risk having a fever, not when the raid was so close. Naturally, Zoro had issues with her suggestion.
Because believe it or not, Roronoa Zoro, for the last twenty-one years of his life, has never, ever, gotten sick.
"I'm telling you, it's no problem," Zoro told her. She had already dragged them to a hollow concavity at a nearby cliff, insisting they take shelter. "Let's just head back already."
Katana frowned at him, like he just said the stupidest thing ever in the world.
"A swordsman knows how to take care of his body. If you get sick when the raid is right around the corner, it will only hold the alliance down."
"I said it's not a problem," Zoro repeated with more irritation radiating off him. "I don't get sick."
"Excuse me?"
"Never had one my entire life. So stop fussing around."
Katana blinked at him a few times, the new information rendering her speechless. Zoro was beginning to get ticked off.
"What?"
Then, as if suddenly reaching an epiphany, Katana slowly nodded with a hand on her chin. She had on such a solemn expression that Zoro wondered what was going on in her head.
"I see. I thought it was but a mere myth.. but to think it's actually true..."
"Hah?"
Katana lowered her hand and looked at him like he was a rare species in a zoo.
"To think I'm witnessing it first-hand.. so it is true.."
"What's true?!"
Katana swallowed heavily, as if she still could not believe it.
"That.. idiots really do not catch colds."
.
.
.
"I'm going to cut you up."
"Then explain why you've never had one!"
"How should I know?!" Zoro snapped, with all the shark teeth. "Maybe colds are just scared of me."
"Truly a statement only an idiot would mak—
"You're pushing your luck."
"Then," Katana started, boldly pointing at the bamboo forest, "head back to the camp by yourself under this rain."
Zoro gritted his teeth, holding back the little inch of patience left in him.
He huffed and slumped down to the ground, leaning his three swords against the wall of dirt beside him. "You're annoying. Fine. I'll wait it out here so long as you shut up."
Katana looked at him before she sighed to herself. She leaned her naginata against the wall and sat down facing the entrance of the cavern, cross-legged. The space was cramped up, barely enough for two adults to fit in that her knee was almost grazing Zoro's.
She gazed at the storm, the silence in the cavern only disrupted by the outside rain. Grass and leaves swayed with the wind, and there was the occasional thunder rumbling.
"I hope it does not rain on the day of the raid.." she muttered. They had to use makeshift boats en route Onigashima. Should the weather be rough, it would be a challenge to wade through the waters.
"D'you think our plans would change if it ever storms?"
Katana wasn't expecting Zoro to hear her. She's hung out enough with him to realize the man had insane sleeping habits. She thought he'd be dozing off the second he sat down.
".. It's unlikely," she answered. "The night of the Fire Festival is the optimal moment for the siege, with both Orochi and Kaido's forces lowering their guards. We will never have another opportune moment until the next year. And I doubt our own forces will be able to hold up in secrecy for that long either."
She narrowed her gaze, finishing, "Now is the best time to attack."
As if in confirmation to her words, thunder rumbled in the skies ahead.
Zoro did not add more to that, prompting Katana to turn to him. He had his arms crossed behind his head as he leaned on the wall behind them, eyes closed. But somehow, she knew he was still awake.
"Why.. do you fight?"
Zoro cracked open his eye, sliding it over to catch her gaze.
Katana added, "You are a pirate. You have no reason to team up with us, samurais. And Kaido is not a simple foe. You are just risking your lives for some country you have no ties in." She scoffed. "I was not aware pirates possess such heroic justice."
Zoro held eye-contact for a few moments, lips held in a firm line and an undecipherable expression on him as the silence between them remained unyielding amidst the outpour of rain.
"We're not heroes," he finally said, "it just so happened the pirate that's terrorizing this country is someone we have to beat if we want to go forward, that's all."
"'Go forward'?"
"Ah." Zoro nodded, finally breaking eye contact as he looked outside the cave, watching the puddles forming on the moistened earth.
"To achieve our goals."
At that, Katana raised a brow. ".. Goals?"
Zoro shrugged casually. "Goals. Ambitions. Dreams. However you wanna call it."
It took her a second to understand. "You have.. dreams?"
"All of us have," Zoro said. "It's why we became pirates."
Katana allowed his words to sink in. She followed his gaze and looked out of the cavern.
Dreams.
That was a word Katana didn't often associate with. It was hard to dream in a place where you were not even allowed the luxury to.
"So what's your dream, Roronoa?"
Without wasting a beat, not even telling her that it wasn't her business, Zoro said,
"To become the greatest swordsman."
And somehow, Katana knew, even though she wasn't looking at his face, that he wore a look of conviction, belief, that he was going to do it. It carried through his voice, the weight of his tone, the gravity of his declaration—Roronoa Zoro was going to grasp that dream no matter what.
Unwavering conviction..
Katana didn't even realize the wistful smile on her lips.
That's just like a certain man she knew.
"That's quite a dream you have," she said, turning to him. "Who taught you the way of the sword, anyway?"
Zoro parted his lips, unsure if he should mention his recent mentor, or the one who taught him when he'd been young.
".. A master swordsman out in the seas," he decided was the best way to put it. "And my instructor back at the dojo of my hometown, Shim—"
Zoro froze. Katana looked at him strangely.
"Is there something wrong?"
Zoro ignored her question and sat up straighter. "You said you're.. from the Shimotsuki clan, right?"
A flash of undecipherable emotion passed through Katana's eyes as she momentarily stopped.
"What about it?"
Her question passed through Zoro's ear to the other. Literally. He didn't even bother to answer her query as he got lost in his own thoughts, which were now swirling in a pile of information as he finally realized.
He finally realized what made Katana's name familiar.
Shimotsuki..
It was the name of his hometown.
He couldn't believe it took him this long to piece it together (maybe he's just that slow, the narrator said). Now that he thought about it, he recalled that masked tengu telling him that one time that his Wado Ichimonji and Enma had been crafted by the same man.
Zoro remembered the old geezer who used to live in his village, whose name he was unbothered to know. Come to think of it, wasn't that old guy Kuina's grandfather?
Shimotsuki Kozaburo, the man who founded Shimotsuki village some decades ago, after leaving Wano borders.
Zoro blinked in the distance.
All this new information, but it wasn't like it could do anything to help him whatsoever.
"Roronoa?"
Zoro remembered the red haired girl and turned to her, catching the hue of confusion plastered in her gaze. Some of her red locks stuck to her face because of the humid air, and through her thin side fringe, he could lightly see her scarred eye.
But still...
If, by some chance, she and Kuina were related..
It still wouldn't change anything.
Sure, maybe they shared that graceful fighting style. Maybe they were similar in the way that they could stand on par with him in skills. Maybe they radiated that same, confident air, but who cares?
It was unlike Zoro to care about this. So what if Katana and Kuina were related? What's he gonna do about it? It's not like knowing this would make him stronger for the raid.
And in all honesty.. he would rather not confirm it.
He would never get to continue his thoughts, because Zoro's soul almost flew out of his skin when he felt a warm palm press against his forehead.
"You're not sick."
Zoro stared, almost wide-eyed, as Katana gauged his temperature. When he realized what she was doing and the uncomfortable proximity, he lightly slapped her hand away.
"I told you, I don't get sick."
Katana parted her lips.
"And it's not because I'm an idiot!"
She closed it.
"Then why were you suddenly spacing out?"
Zoro grunted and returned to his relaxed position, hands crossed behind his head and eyes closed. To be exact, one eye closed. His other one was already closed to begin with.
"Just thinking."
Katana looked genuinely surprised.
"You can think?"
A tick mark popped on Zoro's temple and his brows knitted together, although he kept his eyes shut.
"You're getting too comfortable making fun of me, woman."
"Well.. I am merely stating what I believe to be fact."
Zoro clicked his tongue. Again and again..
His own crew already has a nasty habit of bullying him like their average midday pastime. Why does he have to take it from an outsider too?!
"Since you asked me a question, it's only right I do the same," he said, partly out of lowkey curiosity, partly to change the subject. "Who taught you swordsmanship?"
Zoro knew the most about persevering effort and determination. At Katana's level, he could guess she spent a damn good amount of time honing her skills.
Katana went quiet at the sudden question. She teared her eyes from Zoro's form and leaned against the wall behind her. And when she finally answered, there was a hollow tone in her voice.
"My master. The wife of the late daimyo of Ringo."
"So the guy had a wife after all?"
Katana halfheartedly glared at him.
"Watch your words, Roronoa. Referring to Ushimaru-san as 'that guy' is utterly disrespectful."
Naturally, Zoro didn't care. It wasn't like he was a Wano citizen. And going by his logic, that means he gets a pass to do and say whatever he deems fit.
"She must be pretty good, then," he commented, more to himself.
"That's an understatement!"
Her outburst had Zoro opening his eye again as he glanced at her. Some kind of switch had probably clicked in her, since she had shifted her position and now sat facing him, fists clenched tight and—
What he saw fairly surprised him. And Roronoa Zoro was not one to be easily surprised.
"My master was a swordsman renowned all throughout the land of Wano! Her name alone was a brand. Hailed as the Raijin, she was one of the greatest onna-musha Wano has ever seen, arguably the greatest in decades time. And to top it off, she was—"
Katana was so engrossed in her monologue she barely noticed the amused expression on Zoro's face.
Realizing she was gushing like some kind of fangirl in front of him, her face began to heat up in embarrassment.
She quickly shifted and returned to her original position, only now she was facing slightly away from him.
"Where did all that enthusiasm go?"
"Be quiet, Roronoa."
And just like that, her disposition went from 100 to 0 real quick.
A snort coming from the green haired swordsman made her blow a fuse.
"Raijin, you say," he mused, "sounds interesting. What else were you about to say?"
Face still a bit reddened, Katana cleared her throat, catching her composure. "My master.. she had a long list of achievements under her name. One of them was being the General of the Joshitai."
"Joshitai?"
"The women's army," she translated, "an official unit of female warriors, tasked to serve and protect the country."
She could still remember it. The yard of her home, filled with aspiring warriors all trained under her master. How Katana used to fuss around, persuading her master to let her join the army even though she was still far too young.
When she didn't hear anything from him, she turned her head and saw the look on his face.
"What is it?"
"It's just unexpected," Zoro curtly said.
His words brought a frown to her features. All the embarrassment from earlier had now disappeared as Katana fully looked at him once more.
"Is it because I'm a woman?"
Her question resonated so deeply inside Zoro, he could actually feel his bones vibrating. A distant memory had been unlocked, one that occurred beneath the light of the full moon, witnessed by glinting blades, and which eventually led to a promise of greatness.
He didn't want to associate his dead friend with this woman any longer.
"Don't twist my words, idiot," Zoro finally said, frowning. "It's just I've never heard of any army like that ever since arriving here. And besides.."
He looked her in the eye, allowing her to see the sincerity in them.
"Whether you're a man, woman, or whoever you are or wherever you came from.. once you pick up a blade, none of that matters."
Something flashed in Katana's face. Something Zoro could not quite pinpoint. She seemed to be looking at an entirely different thing, something that was far from their current circumstances.
".. Do you really think so?"
Zoro scoffed.
"I don't say stuff I don't really mean."
She stared at him for a few more moments, before she slowly looked away, and Zoro was able to glimpse a subtle smile on her lips.
"Hm. I never knew you were capable of possessing such profound philosophy."
Zoro rolled his eye. "Take it or leave it. And don't tell me you're gonna start spouting about wanting to be born a man because of it."
He's already been a part of such a conversation twice in his life, which was twice more than he wanted. First Kuina, then that marine captain.
It pissed him off, for some reason. Ever since Kuina, the subject has always been a touchy one for him.
Accusations like 'You were born to be inferior to me' or 'I was destined to win against you', were the kinds of excuses he hated the most.
But Katana's next words definitely came as a pleasant shock.
"I won't. I never wanted to be born a man."
Zoro had to do a double take. When he glanced at her, Katana was staring at her open palm, curling and extending it, not noticing the intense look he was giving her.
"In fact, I enjoy being a woman, and I see no wrong in it," she continued. "Perhaps in a matter of raw strength, especially in the art of swordplay, a woman will always be bested out by a man. But.."
Katana looked at him, and Zoro saw a different shine in her eyes, along with a little smirk that radiated of domineering, confident aura that was oozing out of her and extending over towards him.
".. that's exactly why we look for other ways to fight."
The glint of her naginata twinkled, as if in response to her words. Her reflection bounced off of its gleaming blade.
Zoro was actually caught off-guard at her answer. Even when competing with the sound of rain, her statement echoed as loud as it could in the small cave.
They had the same conversation he's always found himself in. With Kuina, and then Tashigi. Of this whole inequality thing going on. The unfairness of it all. The desire to be born stronger.
But this..
This was an entirely different answer.
And as Zoro looked at this red haired woman, of the sharp, unwavering gaze she subjected him to, he came to a conclusion.
It didn't necessarily mean Katana was better than the others. No, it wasn't like that at all.
Zoro just shared the same sentiments. It was simply for that sole reason.
Human beings were not born with the strength. To him, power meant an acquired skill. That was the point of his journey—increasing his arsenal of strength and skill, to become stronger and stronger to overcome any obstacle until the last, to achieve his dream.
No matter the hurdle, his insatiable drive to find the path to victory is the reason he is still standing today.
Roronoa Zoro realized he needed to reassess his impression on Shimotsuki Katana. She was not like Kuina at all.
Instead, he was reminded of his initial impression of her.
That in truth...
They were the ones who were a whole lot more similar.